Kasper Dolberg(L) and Harry Kane will be leading their respective countries today
England take on Ukraine at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday for a place in the Euro 2020 semi-finals but vice-captain Jordan Henderson says anyone underestimating Andriy Shevchenko’s men is “delusional”.
The Three Lions are overriding favourites to reach the semi-finals having beaten rivals Germany 2-0 at Wembley in Tuesday’s last-16 encounter – and are even viewed now as tournament favourites by many.
But Henderson and manager Gareth Southgate are not taking anything for granted.
“It was a fantastic performance but we haven’t achieved anything yet and we’ve still got a long way to go,” Henderson said. “Full focus on Ukraine. It’ll be a really difficult test and anybody that says that it won’t be are delusional, really.
“I know people say ‘well, we beat Germany’ but you can’t underestimate the importance of this game and how hard good of a team Ukraine are and how hard it will be against them.
“We’re fully prepared and fully aware of that. We just need to go out there and give absolutely everything again and hopefully that’s enough to get us through.”
Social media was awash with videos showing Henderson celebrating against Germany but the midfielder says he was “probably the biggest party pooper” after the game.
The Liverpool captain knows what it takes to be successful and England are now having to play away from Wembley for the first time at Euro 2020.
“Maybe the atmosphere won’t be as good or there might be less fans in the crowd and things like that, but you’ve got to try and create your own atmosphere and your intensity on the pitch.
“That’s going to be important, and just focus on the game. I think a lot of us will be used to playing without any fans, within the past year or so anyway, so it’s nothing new.
“We’ve just got to go out there, put on a real good performance and if we do that then we’ll have a good chance of getting through to the semi-final.”
Czech Republic and Denmark will go head-to-head for a spot in the Euro 2020 semi-finals when they meet in Baku for their quarter-final tie-on Saturday.
Czech Republic took full advantage of the dismissal of Matthijs de Ligt as they beat Netherlands 2-0 to book their place in the last eight, while Denmark, who won the European Championship back in 1992, secured a convincing 4-0 victory to send Wales crashing out of Euro 2020.
This is the third meeting between the Czech Republic and Denmark at the European Championship – the Czechs have won both previous games, 2-0 in the EURO 2000 group stages and 3-0 in the previous meetings.
Euro 2020 update is by courtesy BetWay. Bet responsibly. Not open to persons under 18 years.